Hotel Sale

A historical monument to the former grandeur and splendor of Paris, the Hotel Sal, built in the Marais district, 1659 by the French architect Jean de Bouilliers commissioned by Pierre Aubert, Lord Fontaine, who at that time led the collection of the salt tax (Sal means salt, salt, salt), is now a recognized architectural and historical monument and at the same time the building of the museum of the brilliant artist Pablo Picasso. According to historians and experts, the Hotel Sal was and remains one of the most beautiful buildings of the Marais district in Paris. And this is not surprising, because in the decoration of the hotel there are unique reliefs of the brothers Gaspar and Baltasar Marcy, as well as Martin Desjardins himself. Especially beautiful are the relief scenery on the central staircase and deserve special attention.

An interesting fact is that the Marais area (translated from French means Swamp) in Paris originated in the XII century, during the reign of Philip – Auguste, when the lands of influential abbeys, covered with extensive and smoky swamps, were drained and ennobled to raise the prestige of the magnificent gardens planted here. The original state of these possessions gave the name to the entire historical district - Marais (Swamp).

Over time, the Marais district, once pleasing to the eye with its majestic buildings, amazing gardens and respectable manner, generally turned into a working-class area, became impoverished and lost its luster. Gardens and beautiful courtyards turned into craft workshops. In general, it has become the most ordinary and far from prestigious area of volatile and refined Paris.

Since the end of the XVII century, the unique building of the Hotel Sale served as the Embassy of the Republic of Venice, a school for young men, and the first school of crafts (now the main Technical Institute in France). In connection with each appointment, the historical monument underwent various redevelopments inside until it finally gained its protection status in 1964 and was purchased by the Prefecture of Paris. And in 1965, the Marais district itself was recognized as a historically important area of the French capital, which entailed a global reconstruction of private properties, mansions and even entire street blocks.

In 1974, the Sal Hotel was chosen as a venue for the exhibition of the works of the genius Pablo Picasso. Apparently, the artist’s love of old buildings served as a starting point (Picasso lived in the castles of Boisgeloup and Vauvenargues and worked in his workshops at the Rue des Grands Augustins and Notre Dame de Vie) to choose a place for his museum. This led to further large-scale reconstruction of the hotel building until 1984, during which a significant part of the interior decoration and the original layout were restored. The main work to restore the historic appearance of the building and the preservation of its architectural delights was carried out by Roland Simune, who won a grant in the announced competition to restore the building of the hotel Sal.

To the general public, the fully restored Hotel Sal, the jewel of the Marais in Paris, opened its doors as the building of the National Museum of Pablo Picasso in 1985, almost immediately after reconstruction.

In September 2011, the hotel-museum was again closed for reconstruction after a series of examinations. To see again all the splendor of the monument, as well as the collection of works of Picasso in full, the public will be able only at the end of 2013. You just need to be patient and hold your breath in anticipation of meeting with the beautiful, eternal, and at the same time changeable, as the inevitable flow of time itself.